Mahan v. Wyopa Co.

189 P. 633, 27 Wyo. 17, 1920 Wyo. LEXIS 16
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedApril 30, 1920
DocketNo. 941
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 189 P. 633 (Mahan v. Wyopa Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mahan v. Wyopa Co., 189 P. 633, 27 Wyo. 17, 1920 Wyo. LEXIS 16 (Wyo. 1920).

Opinion

Beabd, Chief Justice.

This suit was brought iu the district court of Fremont county by the plaintiff in error against the defendants in error upon an alleged judgment of the supreme court of New York county, state of New York, in favor of William R. Eidson and against Wyopo Company; said judgment having been assigned to the plaintiff. The cause was tried to the court without a jury. The court found generally in favor of defendant, Billow, as receiver (he being the only defendant appearing and pleading) and against the plaintiff, and rendered judgment accordingly. Plaintiff brings the case to this court by proceedings in error.

The plaintiff in his petition alleged that Wyopo Company is corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of Maine; alleged the rendition of the judgment in the New York court in favor of Eidson and against the Wyopo company for $13,125.08, and the assignment of the judgment to plaintiff; that the New York murt was a court of general jurisdiction and had jurisdiction of the subject matter of the action and of the person of Jhe Wyopo Company, and that the judgment was wholly unpaid.

Defendant, Billow, in his answer denied that Eidson had obtained judgment against the Wyopo Company as alleged; denied that the New York court had jurisdiction of the subject matter of the causes -of action in favor of Eidson and against said Wyopo Company, or of the person of said Company. Alleged that the Wyopo Company, defendant in this action, is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of Maine, and authorized to carry on business in the state of Wyoming. That it has never been incorporated under the laws of the state of Wyoming. That the corporation named and described in the New York action and judgment was a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Wyoming. That defendant in this action, Wyopo Company had never been [23]*23incorporated in tbe. state of New York, had never been authorized to do business therein, never maintained an •office or did business therein and never appointed an agent therein upon whom service of process could be made, and that any attempted service upon any person in said state on behalf of said corporation was a nullity. That no appearance was ever made, nor was any answer or other pleading interposed in said attempted action in the 'New York court by the defendant named and described in the summons and complaint, or by the Wyopo Company named and described in the petition herein; and that judgment was entered as upon default of defendant. That the plaintiff in said action, William R. Eidson, was at the time of the attempted commencement of said action a nonresident of the State of New York.

For reply plaintiff denied that the corporation named as defendant in the suit in New York was described in said action as a corporation organized under the laws of Wyoming; and alleged that the only corporation by the name of Wyopo Company authorized to do business in Wyoming was and is Wyopo Company a Maine Corporation; that there never has been any corporation organized under the laws of the state of Wyoming by the name of Wyopo Company. Denied that Eidson was a non-resident of New York.

Counsel for plaintiff in error in their brief state and rely upon the following propositions for a reversal of the judgment.

“I. The trial court did not give the judgment of the New York Supreme Court the full faith and credit it was entitled to under the Federal Constitution. 2. Section 4410 of the Wyoming Compiled Statutes, 1910, does not apply to judgments of this character rendered by the courts of a sister state, for to so hold would render said section unconstitutional as being in conflict with section 1 of Article IV of the constitution of the United States. [24]*243. The court over the objection of plaintiff permitted the introduction of a large amount of incompetent evidence, and later refused to strike' out the same. 4. The judgment is contrary to both the law and the evidence.”

We will consider those points so far as we deem necessary to a decision of the case. It must be conceded, and we think counsel do so in their briefs, that the courts of this state are bound to give full faith and credit to the judgments of - a sister state; and that where the transcript of a foreign judgment, sued upon in this state, is introduced in evidence and is silent as to the mhnner of service, or the person or officer served, when defendant is a corporation, the law presumes that the court had jurisdiction, and that presumption prevails until the contrary is shown. “But the presumption, which the law implies in support of the judgments of superior courts of general jurisdiction, only arise With respect to jurisdictional facts concerning which the record is silent. Presumptions are only indulged to supply'the absence of evidence or averments respecting the facts presumed. They have no place for consideration when the evidence is disclosed or the averment made. When, therefore, the record states the evidence or makes an averment with reference to a jurisdictional fact, it will be understood to speak the truth on that point, and it will not be presumed that there was other or different evidence respecting the fact, or that the fact was otherwise than as averred. If, for example, it appears from the return of the officer or the proof of service contained in the record, that the summons was served ,at a particular place, and there is no averment of any .other service, it will not be presumed that service was also made at another and different place; or if it appear in like manner that the service was made upon a person other than the defendant, it will not be presumed, in the silence of the record, that it was made upon the defendant also. Were not this so it would never be possible to [25]*25attack collaterally the judgment of a superior court, although a want of jurisdiction might be apparent upon its face; the answer to the attack would always be that, notwithstanding the evidence or the averment, the necessary facts to support the judgment are presumed.” (Galpin v. Page, 18 Wall (U. S.) 350, 366, 21 L. ed. 959. See also Smith v. Central Trust Co., 154 N. Y. 333; 48 N. E. 553. In re James, 99 Cal. 374, 33 Pac. 1122, 37 Am. St. Rep. 60.) Nor does the fact that the judgment recites that the defendant was duly served prevent the introduction of evidence to show that the defendant was not served, and for that reason the court was without jurisdiction. Thompson v. Whitman, 18 Wall. (U. S.) 457, 468, 21 L. Ed. 897. In the case at bar the judgment roll offered in evidence by the plaintiff contained not only the formal judgment but also the complaint, summons, and the return of service; from which it appears that on April 17, 1912, in an action then pending in the Supreme Court of New York county, state of New York, entitled “William R. Eidson, plaintiff, against Wyopo Company, defendant,” the plaintiff recovered judgment against the defendant for $13,-125.08, by default. The judgment recites that the summons and complaint had been duly and personally served upon the defendant on March 1, 1912.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
189 P. 633, 27 Wyo. 17, 1920 Wyo. LEXIS 16, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mahan-v-wyopa-co-wyo-1920.